And On the Seventh Day, Bulls Beat Celtics

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↵The fourth game of Bulls-Celtics began just after 1 p.m. Eastern. Three-and-a-half hours later, we have resolution in what ended as one of the greatest playoff games in recent memory. The Bulls reigned victorious in double overtime in a match filled with physical confrontation, an extreme number of momentum swings and crotch-grabbing chauvinism. It was, in a word, fantastic.
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↵Rajon Rondo and Derrick Rose, particularly, kept up their personal war. Rondo went triple-double with efficient shooting (9-18) and ball-handling (one turnover). Rose borrowed some of Rondo’s personal style, flying around to capture 11 rebounds to go with his nine assists and efficient (10-17) 23 points. Elsewhere, Kirk Hinrich (a point guard) hassled Paul Pierce into bad shots, Glen Davis nailed jumpers and opponents (more in a moment), and Ben Gordon and Ray Allen each registered game-saving threes (the former followed by the sort of testicular gesticulation you’ll only find in the NBA).
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↵Early in the fourth, Brad Miller stole a pass under the rim. Davis pulled his “no layups” routine and hammered Miller over the head with both arms, coming down through the ball. It could have been called a flagrant or a mundane personal foul, either way with no arguments. Miller took exception, though, and with eyes closed pushed at Davis. He didn’t make much contact ... but Davis flopped awful egregiously, which led to the refs ejecting Miller for the hit to the face. Thankfully, Danny Crawford reviewed it and left Miller in tact ... assessing a flagrant to the Bull ... which isn’t allowed by the rulebook, since the shove in question did not come during game action. (It should have been a technical on Miller, maybe a flagrant on Davis.) Regardless, if we’re to rue the idea of flop in general, when the cost is a personal foul, a flop to try to get an opponent ejected in the playoffs is beyond the pale. Shame on you, Glen Davis!
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↵This game evens the series; more than that, it has pushed every other first-round series into deep inferiority. Give me the rest of the Bulls-Celtics series and nothing else.↵